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October 23, 2015

THE standard of education must be lifted if all Guyanese are to be treated as equal, says United Nations Resident Coordinator Khadija Musa. Musa, in an interview with this publication said “the quality of education in Guyana these days is a bit questionable.” Her view is in light of a continuous decline in the sector. The UN envoy recognised however the results of Guyanese students who topped the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), noting that while the achievements in those areas were good, it was not enough.

“Even though the quality of education in Guyana these days is a bit questionable; not as strong as it used to be, the fact that Guyana reaches out to every child to get education is still crucial.It is important that the new government work to bring back that level of quality of education that existed in the 60s, 70s and 80s,” she added.

Musa said history has shown that persons from across the Caribbean came to Guyana to study because of the quality of education provided. Guyana, she said must strive to ensure that its education system returns to where it was in its previous years.

“A lot of Caribbean people came here… it would be very good if the government could work towards developing education and getting some of the losses back in terms of quality.” The UN representative said while the standard of education had dropped mention must be made of the efforts made.

“Still I’d say Guyana has been doing well in education, because even though not in large numbers you get some of the highest ranks in the CSEC examinations,” Musa stated.
More focus needs to be placed on equal access to quality education across the board. She believes that while there are some “acclaimed public schools,” there are also private institutions that are doing well. It is her view that with a stronger education system, Guyana could return to being one of the leading countries with respect to the education.
Guyana, the UN Representative said is a “wealthy country in terms of natural resources” but there must be equality and equity across the board. Guyana’s capacity is “depleted by migration.”
“I think that it is important to attract the Diaspora in order to bring back skills to this country. I think Guyana should be a place where Guyanese dream to go back to… not when they can’t walk anymore.”

AMERINDIANS
Musa emphasised the need to have Amerindian students gain access to quality education; it is her belief that while there is access to education, it is not necessarily quality education. She applauded the David Granger- led administration, noting that its initiative to ensure that children of hinterland communities have access to quality education is a good one.
Amerindians have been classified as one of the vulnerable groups here and while focus has been placed on Amerindian communities, enough has not been done to ensure that they have equal access. “I am hoping that the access to education would improve—actually, a lot of them have access to education, but it is a question of the quality of education and proximity, because some of the children have to travel for miles.”
Musa believes that “the heart of the government is in the right place, particularly the Minister of Education. He is a formidable educator,” said the UN Representative.

The move by government to develop the hinterland as the country’s frontier was lauded by Musa, who noted that such efforts are important in bridging the gap that exists between central Guyana and the hinterland regions.

“I think the fact that the government is talking about connecting the interior to the central areas is important, but how it is done is another factor. You still want to maintain your pristine interior and you don’t want to expose it to exploitation and deterioration.”

She believes that with good management, Guyana can be a “beautiful environment surrounded with educated people.”
“The Amerindians are land- rich, but do not have the wealth to develop it. I hope the talk will become a reality of connecting the two and making facilities accessible to the hinterland,” she added.

It is her hope as UN representative to Guyana that there will exist in Guyana larger amounts of diversity in all areas. “To take advantage of the wealth of natural resources you have in this country, Guyanese need to be one in order to succeed.”

Additionally, the UN envoy noted that Information & Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to alleviate poverty. “It is a key to alleviating poverty,” Musa said.

Improving Maternal Health
Improving maternal health care is also critical to Guyana achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, the UN Resident Coordinator to Guyana told the Guyana Chronicle at her Brickdam office.
Musa noted that improving maternal health was crucial. She explained that while Guyana had done well in other areas of the MDGs, pointing to food security, more needed to be done to improve maternal health care here.

Guyana through Junior Minister of Health Dr. Karen Cummings announced earlier this month that Guyana had made significant progress in improving maternal health. But, though progress has been made, Guyana would need to reduce its maternal mortality rate to 67.5 percent by the end of this year.

Dr. Cummings said the progress made was not enough in the area of maternal health as the country’s mortality rate was still too high.
Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, gender equality, and improving maternal health are only a few areas of concern for the UN office in Guyana. As the UN body celebrates UN Day on October 24 this year, Musa said the body had reaffirmed its commitment to empowering the marginalised and vulnerable, globally. In Guyana, work is under way and partnerships formed.
“We will work closely with the government to ensure they take the commitments they have made seriously,” she said.
UN Day is important as it helps the body to reflect on its achievements, celebrate the Sustainable Development Goals while remembering the suffering of the vulnerable groups globally.